Disney+’s X-Men ’97 Is an Ambitious Love Letter to Fans Who Grew Up With the Original Series

Nearly 30 years after that infamous cliffhanger, X-Men ’97 has finally arrived, and with it the weight of anticipation and expectation from an entire generation of adults who grew up watching the now-iconic series during its original run on FOX Kids’ animation block. Plus the anticipation of a whole new generation of Marvel fans who have discovered the series on streaming, become X-Men fans from the long-running live action films, or just generally tuned into all things Marvel in the MCU era.

I grew up watching the original X-Men animated series as a kid in the ‘90s, and credit it for making me a lifelong sci-fi and superhero fan at the ripe age of eight years old. A few decades later, I was in the room at San Diego Comic Con when Marvel’s animation team gave fans some of the first looks at the long-awaited revival series X-Men ’97—and was as giddy as anyone else cheering as they announced myriad returning voice stars and showed fresh concept art for how the series will look in this modern-day continuation of those 1990’s adventures.

This new series aims to thread a very tight needle, picking up the story of a series that ended a full 27 years ago but being innovative enough to write a new chapter that is true to that beloved saga, while also being interesting enough that it’s actually worth telling in the first place. Thankfully, the final produced episode of the original X-Men: The Animated Series left the perfect launchpad to eventually return to this story and see where it could have gone next. In case you need a refresher on your X-Men: The Animated Series lore: the original series ended with Professor Xavier mortally wounded after an assassination attempt, and he departs from the X-Men—seemingly for good—with an alien ally who is attempting to save his life.

Picking up a few months after that moment, the premiere of X-Men ‘97 is a true love letter to the original series, with plenty of homages to that first adventure that introduced fans to these characters and their world. Yep, there’s a young mutant who needs the team’s help; yep, there are Sentinels on the prowl; and yep, there are plenty of sweeping hero shots of the team coming together to handle it all. Which is to say, much like the original series’ pilot, new fans could step into the show with little background and still have a good time. You’ll definitely miss some of the deeper lore and references, but it’s still a colorful, rollicking X-Men adventure even if you don’t pick up the easter eggs.

No spoilers beyond what’s been revealed in the trailers for X-Men ‘97, but the new series picks up a in the aftermath of Xavier’s exit, with the X-Men left to pick up the pieces of what his mission means without him there to lead it. That story is compelling enough, but gets a massive wrinkle when it’s revealed that Xavier’s last act before his death was to leave his school, the X-Men, and everything he had to his friend-turned-enemy Magneto. Yep, that’s right, Magneto is running the X-Men now.

The concept is a fertile one for a conflicted redemption story, and creating a fresh conflict in the heart of the X-Men team itself makes for high drama to create some angst among the returning core heroes in Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, Storm, Jubilee, Beast, Bishop, and Morph. Fans of the original series will feel right at home with these characters once again, as the designs and personalities are still on point, and if anything, the modern era of animation techniques have only helped to make them even cooler (seriously, the creative team were obviously fans of Cyclops growing up—he’s become a truly badass show-stealer here).

As for the wider story, the original animated series was groundbreaking in the way it tackled heady topics and put its own spin on some of the most intricate and ambitious comic storylines. X-Men was also among the first animated shows to commit to serialized storytelling, building out its world and supporting cast season after season. So it’s no surprise the revival follows in those footsteps, itself mining a few major X-Men comic storylines just in its first few episodes, and crafting a narrative that builds episode-by-episode.

The episodes themselves also have a bit more breathing room to arc their stories, clocking in at around 30 minutes each (whereas the original series’ episodes were closer to the 22 minute range, due to commercial breaks). But even with those precious extra minutes, the new series still carries over a few of the quirks that made the original show a bit messy all those years ago. Like the old days, the stories can still feel a bit rushed, though the dialogue and storytelling itself has improved and smoothed out with the times, which makes up for a lot of those faults. 

But there’s also the lingering question of exactly who is this show for? It’s truly a fun watch for adults who grew up watching the original series, though that nostalgia will only carry some fans so far. But it’s also a bit dense for kids to pick up jumping in (at least without the first five seasons of the decades-old version to get acclimated), and the ‘90s setting and history might be a tough sell for newcomers. But whoever it’s for, we’re so glad Marvel willed it into existence. The X-Men animated series had an outsized influence on everything Marvel would become all these years later, and this is a fitting tribute to the series that started it all. The X-Men animated series was Marvel at its best, and X-Men ’97 is thankfully more of the same.

Put simply, Cyclops said it best: To me, my X-Men!

Trent Moore is a recovering print journalist, and freelance editor and writer with bylines at lots of places. He likes to find the sweet spot where pop culture crosses over with everything else. Follow him at @trentlmoore on Twitter.

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